The Northampton Balloon Festival is an annual hot air balloon festival held in Northampton, England.
The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is a yearly hot air balloon festival that takes place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, during early October. The Balloon Fiesta is a nine-day event occurring in the first full week of October, and has over 500 hot air balloons each year far from its humble beginnings of merely 13 balloons in 1972. The event is the largest balloon festival in the world, followed by the Grand Est Mondial Air in France.
The Bristol national Balloon Festival is held annually in England. Teams from the UK and other parts of the world bring their hot air balloons to the site and participate in mass ascents where as many as 100 balloons may launch at a time.
The Bluegrass Balloon Festival, formerly called the Adam Matthews Balloon Festival, was the fifth largest hot air balloon festival in the United States, and the largest in the state of Kentucky. From 1999 to 2009, it was held annually in late September at Bowman Field in Louisville, Kentucky.
The London Hot-Air Balloon Festival was an annual hot-air balloon festival held in London, Ontario, Canada. The festival, which was held for the first time in 1984 and originally called the London Balloon Fiesta, used to take place in Harris Park at the forks of the Thames River during Simcoe Day weekend. The sponsor of the festival was Sundance Balloons. Spectators could get very close to the balloons, as there was no fixed barricades separating the launch area.
Hot air ballooning is the activity of flying hot air balloons. Attractive aspects of ballooning include the exceptional quiet, the lack of a feeling of movement, and the bird's-eye view. Since the balloon moves with the direction of the winds, the passengers feel absolutely no wind, except for brief periods during the flight when the balloon climbs or descends into air currents of different direction or speed. Hot air ballooning has been recognized by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) as the safest air sport in aviation, and fatalities in hot air balloon accidents are rare, according to statistics from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Balloons over Waikato is an annual hot air balloon festival held in Hamilton, New Zealand since 1999 by the non-profit organization Balloons over Waikato Trust. The event spans five days during autumn and attracts both local and overseas balloonists. The Festival is held primarily at Innes Common, at Hamilton Lake, which gets an estimated 130,000 visitors during the festival. The highlight of the festival, the "Night glow" is held at the University of Waikato where an estimated 80,000+ people attend to watch the lighting of balloons putting on a spectacular glow to music.
Plano Balloon Festival is held each September at Oak Point Park and Nature Preserve in the city of Plano, Texas. It is one of the city's largest celebrations, drawing in excess of 90,000 attendees. Celebrating 40 years of its existence, the festival has evolved into an important fundraiser for local nonprofit organizations. InTouch Credit Union is the festival's main sponsor.
The Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta is an annual four-day event held between January and February at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga. It is the biggest and longest-running aviation sports event in the Philippines.
Burnley Balloon Festival was a balloon festival held in Towneley Park, Burnley. The festival was held annually from 2002, usually in late July. It was regarded as a major balloon event in the UK, as the largest in the North West. By 2005, average visitor numbers were around 20,000.
The Saga International Balloon Fiesta is held at the beginning of November every year in Saga Prefecture, Japan. In 2014 it took place between October 30 and November 3.
The Northwest Art and Air Festival is an annual festival in Albany, Oregon, United States that celebrates local art and aeronautics. The Oregon Festival and Events Association has twice named the festival "best in its budget class" and in recent years the festival has averaged 40,000 visitors during the course of the event. In 2008 festival attendance was described by city officials as "the biggest by far".
The Temecula Valley Balloon and Wine Festival is held annually, the first weekend of June at Lake Skinner Recreation Area in the Temecula Valley AVA of Southern California. The event features morning balloon launches, evening balloon glows, wine tasting from more than 20 wineries, wine competition, food and wine pairing, concerts featuring country on Friday, Classic Rock and Rock on Saturday, and Jazz on Sunday. There is also a giant arts and craft faire, kids faire, and fine art paintings on exhibit within the wine gardens. In 2020 and 2021 it was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The European Balloon Festival is the largest hot air balloon festival in Spain, and one of the largest in Europe. It takes place every year during the first fortnight of July in Igualada, Catalonia, Spain, a city located within 60 km from Barcelona.
The Michigan Challenge Balloonfest is an annual hot air balloon festival established in 1985 and held in Howell, Michigan during the last weekend of June. The event draws crowds from all over Michigan and its surrounding states, with attendance often topping 100,000 over the three-day weekend. The festival is hosted by the Howell Area Chamber of Commerce, takes place at Howell High School, and is run by head of the Howell Area Chamber of Commerce, Janelle Best, as well as balloonmeister and competition director, Phil Clinger.
The International Hot-Air Balloon Festival in Château-d'Oex is a hot-air balloons festival that has taken place every year during nine days at the end of January in Château-d'Œx, Switzerland since 1979. It is attended by nearly a hundred balloons from over twenty countries. It is famous for taking place in a snowy valley and also for a unique event : the "night-glow" show, where all the balloons are exposed on the mountain, lit by their burners, during the evening of the 7th day.
The Great Forest Park Balloon Race is an annual hot air balloon festival held in Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri. With more than 70 entrants and 130,000 spectators, it is the most well-attended single-day hot air balloon race in the United States.
The Penang Hot Air Balloon Fiesta is an annual hot air balloon festival held within the city of George Town in Penang, Malaysia. The festival, organised by AKA Balloon Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian private limited firm, takes place every February at the city's Polo Ground.
Kamifūsen, refers to several types of paper balloons in Japanese culture. They are simple toys for children, advertising give-aways for traditional medicine companies, and illuminated flying balloons at festivals.
